Rivers hit record levels in NY Capital Region

(I worked the Monday night cops shift and ran out of space to run this in the paper, so I thought I’d post it on my blog even though it’s not really health related.)

Tropical Storm Irene set some records in the headwaters of the Hudson River system. The rising waters Schoharie River – fueled by 12 inches of rain that fell in Green County – broke previous flood records by several feet, said Britt Westergard, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Albany. The flow was so strong that two gauges that measure river levels were washed out.

“The big story is the incredible amounts of rain we had – 12 inches in some areas – reported in Western Green county, which is the headwaters of the Schoharie. It’s absolutely incredible amounts of rainfall,” said Westergard, who said it contributed significantly to the flooding in the Capital Region.

The broken water meters made it difficult for the National Weather Service to predict when the rivers would crest in the Capital Region.

In Schenectady, the Mohawk flowed 3.2 feet above flood stage, but did not break any records. The Hudson River in Troy was 5.5 feet above flood stage, placing it 4th in the record books. It was the highest the river has been since 1948. In Albany, the river was more than 4 feet above flood stage and was one of the biggest storms in 70 years.

At Schoharie Creek in Gilboa, the water rose and fell very fast, Westergard said. The river crested on Sunday around 2 p.m. and fell below flood stage early Monday morning. The crest was a foot higher than the previous record set in 1996.

Schoharie Creek in Burtonsville broke the previous record set in 1996 by 2.4 feet.

Mohawk River in Schenectady crested below record levels, and didn’t even hit the National Weather Service’s “major flooding” designation.